after that and thus the name Lumbago Inn. In 1967, the Arrundales sold this property and it was later bought by Marvin Bohlman in 1977. After extensive interior remodeling, it became Marv’s Bar. With three elevators, the town was a thriving gain market. However it also had a very active cattle and hog market as attested to, by the large stockyards by the railroad. The town was the shipping point for livestock from a large area. The town was incorporated in 1905 and in 1912 the present town hall was completed. With the completion of the town hall, the Utica Fire Department came into being with the constitution and by-laws being adopted March 10, 1913, and the formation of two chemical companies. After a couple of years of construction, since all excavation was done by hand, Utica’s water system was completed in 1916. The town had its first school in 1908. Electricity came to town in 1913. Perhaps the most exciting and most remembered event took place on the night of October 24, 1924, when during an attempt to rob the Utica State Bank, a gun battle ensued between the robbers and the town’s citizens. The attempted robbery was done by professionals as they cut both the telephone and telegraph lines. Evidently expecting to gain entry to the vault and then the safe to take considerable time with the resultant possibility of their being discovered, they had prepared for that. The look-out, with barrels and boards secured from behind the pool hall next to the bank, built himself a barricade on the southwest corner of the bank. Seated in an old swivel chair behind the barricade and armed, when the dynamite blast to gain entry into the vault awoke citizens, he coolly proceeded to aim a load of buckshot in the direction of anything and anyone he saw or heard. Two citizens were shot, and survived, as they passed in front of their windows to examine the noise. The robbers made a large hole to give them access to the vault where they rifled through many safety deposit boxes but they did not gain access to the safe. The town never numbered much more than about 150 inhabitants. Baseball was a very popular sport for the town of Utica. In the 1930s Harry Arrundale moved the ball diamond back to Utica, placing it on the same pasture as the first diamond; however this time home plate was placed in the north end directly across the road from the lumber yard. He also installed lights by about 1949 making it the first lighted park in the area. As with all small towns, the depression followed by the “dirty thirties” along with better roads and automobiles, played havoc with the once bustling little town of Utica so that at present it is but a shadow of its prosperous past. If you read this you know... advertising pays! Call the Missouri Valley Shopper at 665-5884 or stop by to place your ad today! 319 Walnut, Yankton Need A Plumber Now? Quality Work At A Fair Price... KEVIN’S PLUMBING SERVICE, LLC •New Construction •Home and Cabin •Remodel and Repairs Dine-In • Pick-Up • Delivery • Catering Yankton Locally Owned & Operated 1501 Broadway 605-665-1222 Box 1062, Yankton SD 57078 • 605.668.0177 89476 557th Ave., Fordyce NE 68735 • 402.357.3302 Kevin Zavadil ~ Cell 605.661.2894 In Business Since 1994 Hours: 11AM-10PM Daily Buffet Hours: 11AM-2PM & 5PM-8PM Monday-Friday 11AM-8PM Saturday & Sunday YANKTON COUNTY GUIDE 2019v21